Curious about previews vs. finalized shows

[HopeChanged]

I have never been to a show when it's still in previews.

What are the pros and cons to seeing a show when it's still at this stage? Is there generally a price differrence?

How much do shows tend to change from previews to opening night? (Can it vary from minor tweaking to a major overhaul?)

Thanks in advance :)

[After Eight]

I've found the differences aren't that great. Yes, songs and scenes can be added and cut, but in the aggregate the essential nature of the show is the same. Generally, there just isn't enough time for a major overhaul. (And sometimes, better songs are cut: The Grand Tour, Titanic, Women on the Verge.....). Spider-man had a major overhaul, but that had a record seven month preview period. And even the new version seems not that much different from the old one.

As for prices, there doesn't seem to be much price difference between preview and regular performances, at least beore the opening. But discount coupon codes can be limited to preview periods. If the show gets raves, the prices can get jacked up immediately. And if it wins a Tony, then they can get jacked up as well (Venus in Fur, Once).

I'd say it's worth going to a preview.

[yankeefan7]

The only shows I saw in previews where within a week from opening so doubt there was any real change at that point.

[kdogg36]

If you see it in the last week or so, the show is probably going to be frozen anyhow, so you'll see the same show that people will see after opening. Critics come to see the show during this period, too.

[g.d.e.l.g.i.]

Then there are shows that try to get all the help they can during the preview period, and just can't. Dance of the Vampires, for example, had what some would call "an extended preview season," which began in October 2002. This would have been fine if they stayed on target for November, but instead they pushed the opening to December.

During this time, wholesale changes to the show were made: 30% of the dialogue was cut; costumes were re-designed; and a re-staged ending with a new set piece was blocked into the show. Didn't help it. (Part of the problem was that the changes were cosmetic in nature, rather than actually exploring what had been done to the script and score.) Closed after 56 performances, lost 12 mil. But still, just goes to show you that sometimes people can make massive changes in previews.

[Dollypop]

SEESAW was vastly different in previews than it was when it finally opened. o was DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY.

[EricMontreal22]

Seesaw was an example of at, out of town, performing one version of the show while rehearsing a vastly different one, even in terms of sets. I believe Sugar, before Gower Champion took over, was a similar case.

Depending on what you count as previews, there are other examples--ie Into the Woods had significant differences when it was at LaJolla the year before it opened. When I had more patience as a teenager I was obsessed with finding recordings of previews and comparing them, but AfterEight is right--for the most part the show's tone and shape are already established.

I've seen two "previews" in a sense--the initial Seattle productions of Light in the Piazza and Catch Me if You Can. Catch is a show I've not bothered to go back to, but I believe a couple of songs were changed. My memory of Piazza was it was longer than what I saw on TV later, but not noticeably different except for some casting (and I much prefered Steven Pasquale to Morrison on the CD or Lazer on TV but that may partly just be my crush on him). It's not a Broadway show, but I saw Tales of the City last year in San Francisco its secon night--and it was *long*, with a muddled second act (though I really enjoyed it)--from the live audio recording I've heard done a few weeks after opening, two songs were changed and it was tightened up, but the actual show was largely the same.

[Dollypop]

The previews of SPIDERMAN were significantly different from the show that's on stage at the Foxwood's Theater now.

[willep]

Didn't The Mother****** with the Hat change pretty drastically as well?

[LizzieCurry]

Pros: Bragging rights about cut material/characters/actors who may leave

Cons: You never know when the show will come to a halt!

[grumpyoptimist]

I've seen a lot of previews in exploratory west coast runs (San Diego and LA) and some on Broadway, on the road I feel like there's much more likely to be major changes--Little Mary Sunshine (yes, I know it hasn't gotten to Broadway and if there is a God it never will) incorporated a new finale and two new numbers when I saw it...two days before "lockdown". The actors were tentative and timing was off because they were doing material they had just seen for the first time at 10 that morning. I think in any show that would be the risk...that actors have to stop and think about the changes because they haven't become imprinted yet.

[JohnyBroadway]

Didn't Rags have several changes made during it's preview run?

[chewy5000]

Two words: Technical difficulties.